No election results in print

Newsonomics: “Digital defeats print” is the headline as Gannett steps away from printed election results

Heard about this at our local Gannett shop, but didn't realize they were all doing it.

I get that print is dying and the focus is all digital, but this feels like (another) self-inflicted kill shot, keeping ridiculously early print deadlines (7 p.m.) for one of the watched midterm elections of our time.

Our local shop gets extensions for the D-I basketball team it covers, including a game on election night. So they will have a late deadline for college basketball and have that game in print, but have been told they can't do anything to get the election results in print.

 

Not even headlines for called races? I mean, the Mass. Senator and Governor elections will probably be called within 15 minutes of the polls closing.

 

They aren't expecting to get it here. We have a ton of very competitive races that won't be able to be called very early.

When they rolled out the early print deadline process and details a couple of years ago, one of the first questions was about election nights. The answer from the regional publisher was, "Of course we will go late for elections!"

 

Not a good move. Talk about alienating your remaining print subscribers who want to see their local elections covered.

My first election night as a publisher I went with my early print deadline. The next morning a little old lady chewed my ass out in the office. And that was for a primary. I vowed to never miss another election night, and we didn't. It was simple. I asked for extended deadlines on election night (well in advance to get a jump on any other papers that printed at the same plant). Then, we had the rest of the newspaper ready to send to the press and left a big hole on 1A for election results. Once we got them, we plugged in the holes with vote amounts, percentages and winner's photo. The story followed in the next edition, but at least people saw who won, and by how much.

 

If Gannett gives up on print it gives up on the newspaper business.

Newsonomics: “Digital defeats print” is the headline as Gannett steps away from printed election results

This article says that Des Moines has seen daily circulation drop from 66,000 to 87,000 in the last two years. On-line circulation increased in the same period from 4,100 to 6,000. Rochester has seen daily circulation decrease from 66,000 to 48,000 in the same period. On-line circulation increased from 4,000 to 6,500.

The article says in many markets more than a third of the remaining subscribers are over 70.

The end is near.

 

If the results are going online only, then the newsroom only gets microwave pizza.

Sorry, BurnsWhenIPee ...

 

Ha. No longer my circus, Coco.

 

It's finally come to pass. When Singleton merged a bunch of papers in the East Bay, a circ manager wanted earlier deadlines so they could accomodate a bigger press run because of interest in the election. The editor pointed out that an earlier deadline would mean no actual results. And this was when an 11 p.m. first edition deadline was standard. Seem luxurious today. Saw a Gannett paper that didn't have the final game of the World Series in the next day's edition. And that game ended before 9 p.m. local time.

 

The article I posted above said Gannett has 7:00 P.M. deadlines.

A question for the Ganneters out there. If an NFL team that Gannett covers had a 4:00 EST P.M. NFL game for Detroit, Indianapolis or whoever else they cover in the Eastern time zone and evidently a 7:00 P.M. deadline would the company hold the presses if said game went into overtime?

 

Ex-Gannetteer, but from what I understand, there are exemptions for certain things in sports where deadlines get pushed back, like the Packers in Green Bay, the NFL teams you mentioned, high-interest D-I football and basketball teams, etc.

But no exemptions for election night, and no high school football coverage in print until the Sunday paper. All online only until then. Same with high school basketball, too, if they still cover that. Our local shop had maybe a dozen stories on high school basketball (in a basketball-mad area) all last season.

 

I understand the "digital first" strategy - I don't understand putting your name on a print product that if it were a dog would be euthanized.